Here it is!

Thank you guys so much who reviewed. It really gave me the motivation I sorely lack.

CHAPTER TWO

"Jem," Tessa whispered. It was clear that he had not heard her, his face remaining lax and soft, the tale-tell sign of sleep. "Jem, let me up."

Still nothing.

It was one of the things she had been surprised, but delighted, to learn about him. He loved to snuggle: a lot.

He was on his back and his arm was around her, pulling her into his body so that her face was pressed against the side of his bare chest and their legs were tangled in each other's.

She remembered that when he was a boy he had been a light sleeper. Tessa didn't know if that was a result of the yin fin or something else, but he was most certainly not a light sleeper anymore.

She kissed the underside of her jaw, the only place she could reach while being smashed in his armpit. He let out a soft sigh and hugged her tighter.

"Jem," she ran her fingertips across the fine hair at his navel. He stirred and buried his face in her hair groaning.

"Why's it so bright in here?" he asked, his voice rough and croaky.

Another thing she had learned. He was not a morning person.

"It's called the sun, Dear," she teased him. "You should see it sometime."

They were in Amsterdam in a low rent—as low rent as you could get in the city—apartment, and despite the fact that it was freezing, the sun seemed to blare at all times.

"Mhh," he murmured, letting his hand wander over her shirt-clad belly and the small bump there and she felt, more than seen him smile. "But you are not in the sun," was all he said.

She giggled and laid her hand over his much larger one. She had started to show just recently. At four months, it was not huge, not even noticeable with larger clothing, but Jem and she had noticed.

"Let me up," she kissed the side of his mouth and pushed at him until he reluctantly loosened his grip and allowed her to slid out of the bed. At his dismayed face, she leaned back down and kissed him on the mouth once before walking off the small bathroom adjacent to their bedroom.

She used it and did her usual morning routine, washing her face with warm water and brushing her teeth. She ran a brush through her hair, frizzing it up.

When she came out, Jem was sprawled back on the bed, one arm behind his head and a content smile on his face. "Of all you outfits over the years," he said, a content smile on his face, "this is my favorite one."

She looked down at what she was wearing. It was a severely oversized t-shirt that fell mid thigh but left a lot of leg out there. It was one of Jem's she had stolen out of the clean laundry before it could even be put up.

She laughed and shook her head, falling down beside him on her stomach. "Sometimes I think you walked right out of a bad romance novel," she told him.

"So I'm a bad romantic?" he asked lightly, though she could sense the genuine worry.

"Too good to be true."

His eyes softened and she reached out and ran the back of her hand along his cheekbone, over the scar that cut through it.

"I was thinking about going to the Silent Brothers," he said, closing his eyes and reaching up to cradle her hand in his, stopping the light strokes. He had that look on his face that was absent before he joined the brotherhood, a look he got when the sensations of everything—all the humanity—bombarded him and became so overwhelming that he couldn't think straight. He had told her as much once. "I would feel more comfortable with their practices as I am familiar with them. They will need to perform the protection ritual anyways. I may not be a shadowhunter anymore, but our child will be, that is," he opened his brown eyes and looked at her seriously, "if it is alright with you?"

"Of course, Jem," she murmured. "I have always known that. I know how shadowhunter blood thrums through the veins of those it inhabits. I would not take that away from our child. To do that would be to take a part of them with it."

His smile had started small and grown with each gentle word that left her mouth. He smiled and gathered her up against his chest and held her to him, her head beneath his chin and his hands stroking a thin line down her arm.

She knew he wanted to say something else but was holding it back. But she didn't want to push for it, so she curled her arm around his chest and listened to the beating of his heart that no longer fluttered weakly when he had not taken enough of the drug.

"Tessa?" he asked.

"Mhm?"

"What do you think about moving close to an institute?" It was meant as a question but the way he said it made it sound more like a plea. "I have thought about it a lot lately. The child will need to be trained and, though I could do it, I think it would be better if they could be around Nephilim children their own age. Perhaps they could even find their future parabatai."

Tessa's hand was rubbing small circles over his heart—over the faded parabatai rune. She knew what the bond meant to him better than anyone and what a joy it would bring him if their child found one. "I think it is a wonderful idea," she told him. "Perhaps the New York or the Los Angeles Institutes."

"Yes." He sounded distracted, and she wondered if he was as lost in their future as she was. "If it's a boy do you want to—"

"Yes." It was a simple answer that they both had already known. Name him William? She did. She remembered the feeling of peace and remembrance that naming their son James had given both her and Will. It was like he was still with them even when he had been in the depths of the Silent City.

She remembered what Magnus had told her after Will had died.

"One is never truly gone," he had said, an orange cat in his arms, its tail curled around. "Not so long as they live on in the memories of those they cared about and who cared about them. You are immortal Tessa, and in that sense, so is he."

"And if it's a girl?" he asked her.

"Oh, I don't know. What do you think?" She sat up a little and folded her arms beneath her on his chest. His hand moved to play with the ends of her hair.

His hand played up and down her arm again. "What about your mother's name? It was Elizabeth, right? I always liked that name."

"That is a nice thought," Tessa smiled softly. She couldn't remember her mother but she had been one of the bravest women Tessa believed she could think of. She had known there was something different about her daughter and when a stranger came up and gave her a necklace that he said would save her child she had taken it and raised Tessa with love. "My mother never got to be the shadowhunter she was born to be. There could be an Elizabeth that could."

"I love the name," Jem said. "Elizabeth Carstairs—what do you think?"

"Beautiful," Tessa said. She leaned forward and swept his hair from his eyes. It was more of an excuse to touch him that anything else. "Perhaps her middle name could be Charlotte." It seemed reasonable enough. The woman had been a mother figure to both of them.

"Yes," Jem said smiling and leaning in to kiss her, but before he did, he stopped and got a strange look on his face then. It wasn't a pleasant look. "If it is a girl," he frowned, "then I hope she looks like me."

Tessa felt the beginnings of hurt set in. "Why do you say that?" she asked lightly.

"Because," he spoke matter of fact, "that way I don't have to worry about potential suitors."

Tessa laughed and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "Oh, Jem. Don't be ridiculous. If she looks like you then we'll have to beat the boys off the door."

"With a seraph blade?" he suggested, a mischievous smile on his lips.

"Well if we do that then you'll never get any grandchildren," she reasoned. "Don't you want grandchildren?"

Jem looked horrified. "I can think of a few instances in which this child was conceived. And in none of those would I wish for my daughter to participate in."

Tessa laughed again and rolled over on his chest so her back was pressed against him. He put his arms around her and placed his hands on her abdomen. It was an endearing gesture he did unconsciously and she adored.

"So, for a girl, we've picked Elizabeth Charlotte Carstairs, and if it's a boy then it's William…" she trailed off.

He pondered for a moment. "How do you feel about Jonah?"

She smiled, for she knew it was his father's name. "It's lovely," she spoke, staring up at the ceiling. "William Jonah Carstairs."

They laid there for a little while longer, one of his hands on her stomach and the other playing through her messy hair.

"Perhaps we should go now," Tessa suggested, rolling over so that they were centimeters apart.

Jem looked surprised. "To the Brothers?" he asked.

There was a way he had spoken about the Silent Brothers when he had first gotten back as if he were still one himself. She was glad to note that she could no longer detect his previous attachment to them in his voice.

"Yes," she said, hopping up and stripping down to her bra and panties and slipping on some clothes. She didn't think the Silent Brothers cared if she looked nice or not.

"But—"

"I'm four months along. It's a perfectly good time for a visit," she reasoned, shimmying into her pants. They were made of a soft, stretchy material that was so comfortable and slid over her growing stomach easily. Jem had purchased them for her after watching her brutal struggle with the denim jeans a week prior. "Besides," she said, "when I was pregnant with James and Lucie we visited at least twice a week."

Jem laughed. "For perfectly reasonable concerns, I'm sure."

"Absolutely," she agreed sitting back down on the bed and to kiss his lips long and soft. "Our concerns were quite reasonable. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Perhaps, not agree, per se," he shrugged self-depreciatingly, a little smile playing at the corners of his kissed lips, "but I can't say I objected."

Tessa let out a laugh and hauled him up off the bed by his hand. "Come on then. Get ready now."

He dressed in silence while Tessa leaned against the door frame, tapping her foot and fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"Ahh," Jem drawled. He sounded triumphant. "I know what this is about."

"You do?" Tessa asked, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows in challenge.

"You want to know if the baby's a boy or girl."

"And you don't?" she asked surprised. "I've been wallowing in curious sorrow for months and you don't even care?"

"Do you?" he teased.

"Well," she paused. "No, but I still want to know because—well, I just want—"

"To know," he finished for her. "I know you do. Curiosity always had you there. I was wondering how long you'd last."

She huffed indignantly but he just smiled and took her arm in his.

The trip to the Silent City had been a short, silent one with Tessa driving and Jem flipping through stations. Most of the time the radio stayed on the classical channel, but Jem was coming around to the idea of pop and a few others, though he still cringed when he flipped to a rock station.

They pulled up in front of a normal looking cemetery, but both knew it was not. Inside the tall, willowing mausoleum that stood at the end of the cemetery was one of the entrances to the City of Bones.

As soon as they were out of the car Jem tensed beside her and she reached out blindly for his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Even though he didn't act like he was one of the Brothers anymore, Tessa knew this place stored anything but happy memories for him.

"Ready?" she asked.

He nodded and began walking forward.

They were greeted at the door by a Silent Brother who could have passed for a statue standing stone still and holding a staff in one hand.

James Carstairs and Theresa Gray, he spoke, and though his voice, even in her mind, was utterly unlike Jem's in every way possible, a shiver passed through her at the remembrance of that once being the way Jem had spoken to her. What business brings you to the City of Bones, he asked.

It was Jem who spoke.

"Brother Ephraim," he sounded stiff—professional. Tessa liked her soft, sweet, cuddling Jem so much better than this one. "My wife is with child and we should like to know that everything is alright and progressing normally."

The Silent Brother bowed his head slightly, his hood falling lower, and held out a stony arm towards the entrance. Then welcome, he said and turned to escort them.

Jem and Tessa followed silently, still hand in hand, into the stone corridors of the Silent City. Tessa didn't know where they were going but Jem seemed to know even before Brother Ephraim did.

After a dew minute of walking, brother Ephraim stopped. We have arrived, he said, standing in front of a stone door that looked like every other door.

Brother Ephraim walked away and Jem reached out and pushed the door open. Though such a large structure should have been loud when being moved, it didn't make a sound. Tessa realized that she could not see where the door hinged.

Inside the room was more of the same—stone walls with witchlight torches lining them and the same cold, unwelcoming atmosphere. There was a table in the middle of the room, more stone, though Tessa expected nothing less.

Tessa walked forward and crawled up onto the table, Jem helping her. She only vaguely remembered the room from the last times she had been there. It was so long ago. When her back touched the cold, rough surface of the table, her mind was bombarded with an onset of the past.

Hours of Jem—Brother Zachariah—standing over her, feeling her stomach and running tests to make sure everything was okay, taking far longer than was necessary to perform every task; Will leaning back against the wall having strange conversations with Jem about demon pox and ducks. Even when they could no longer pretend to actually be doing anything, Tessa would sit up and hold Jem's cold hand, knowing that he could not feel it, at least in any way that felt human to him, but knowing also that he was doing it for her comfort, and in that she knew he was still human. No other Silent Brother would care about her comfort.

"Tessa," Jem asked, worry tinging his voice. She realized he had asked her something.

"I'm fine," she reached out and grabbed his hand. "Just thinking about all the times I've been here before."

Jem smiled wistfully. Tessa knew that he did not miss being a Silent Brother. That was not what the wistful expression was for. It was for Will.

He opened his mouth to speak when the stone door slid open again.

"Brother Enoch," Jem said, his voice not as stiff as it had been when he had been speaking to the other Silent Brother.

Tessa supposed she could understand. Besides how Brother Zachariah had been, Brother Enoch was the most human of all the Brothers. He was the one who had allowed Jem, after just placing the marks of the Brotherhood upon him for a few days, to travel to Cadair Idris and fight. He was also the one who had allowed Will, with all his rambunctious stories to see Jem. And when he was healed, he allowed Jem's vows to them to void. Though it was said that this was the Consul's decision, it was not. The Silent Brothers were not at the beck and call of the Consul or the Council. They were another branch entirely and had their own laws and ways.

James Carstairs and Theresa Gray, Brother Enoch said, bowing his head in acknowledgment. I assume if you are here for our assistance, you wish for the child to be a shadowhunter.

Tessa knew it was more of a question than an assumption. Had they said no, that they did not intend for the child to be a shadowhunter, that the brothers would have no heed nor vow that required them to help her and Jem.

"Yes," Jem said. "The child will be raised a shadowhunter."

Very well, Brother Enoch said coming forward. Let us begin.

He came over to her and felt her stomach, took blood and pieces of hair. By the end of the examination, she was tired and her back hurt from the hard stone slab. It was strange. Tessa had never remembered feeling anything but comfort when it was Jem—Brother Zachariah.

All is well, Enoch said finally, gathering his hood and pulling it up. Both mother and child are healthy and thriving.

Neither she nor Jem had suspected anything was wrong with the baby, but it was reassuring to know.

Would you like to know the gender, Enoch asked.

Jem and Tessa looked at each other, their eyes confirming what both already knew.

"Yes," Jem said.

Tessa could tell he was interested, but it was nothing against her burning curiosity. Jem had been right. She didn't really care what the child was. She'd love it the same no matter what. But she wanted to know.

Plus, she had to start making arrangements, and she was sure that Magnus would want to know so he could start picking out outfits and planning the baby shower. She had called him a week prior to give him the news and he had been ecstatic, telling her all his grand plans and promising to give her and Jem the dire help they would obviously need on the baby's wardrobe.

She had not told Jem about this development.

A shuffle of parchment robes brought her back to the present.

It is a girl, Brother Enoch said at last. He then turned and walked out the door to wait for them in the corridor and escort them out.

Tessa turned to look at Jem who was grinning such a happy grin that she launched herself into his arms and peppered his face with kisses.

"A girl," he said, his voice sounding miraculous and startled. "We're going to have a little girl. Little Ellie."

"Ellie?" Tessa laughed. "Is that her new nickname?"

Jem picked her up by the waist and kissed her through the giggle. It was a terrible kiss because they both were smiling so big it wouldn't work and by the end of it, they were just laughing into each other's mouths.

"Oh!" Tessa started, pulling back. "I must call Magnus."

"Magnus?" Jem asked.

"Yes, he's going to help me with her nursery—the color schemes and patterns and whatnot. He's also planning her baby shower, so he'll have to know—" she meandered on, all the while Jem just stood looking warily at her.

So, what do you guys think? Please read and review.

UP NEXT: Magnus throws Elizabeth's baby shower at the New York Institute.